Anastomosis is the operative union of two hollow tissue structures. Vascular anastomosis between blood vessels creates or restores blood flow between them. When a patient suffers from coronary artery disease (CAD), an occlusion or stenosis in a coronary artery restricts blood flow to the heart muscle. In order to treat CAD, anastomosis is performed between a graft vessel and the affected coronary artery in order to bypass the occlusion and restore adequate blood flow to the heart muscle. This surgical procedure is known as a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). Anastomosis may be performed in other surgical contexts, such as carotid artery bypass surgery or microvascular surgery. An anastomosis tool may be used to connect the two tissue structures, which may be referred to as the graft vessel and the target vessel. As one example of an anastomosis tool, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/054,265, filed on Feb. 9, 2005 (the “'265 application”), which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, described an anastomosis tool including a staple holder and an anvil. In the context of CABG, the target vessel may be a coronary artery.
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